The Oberlin Design Initiative, a student organization that formed last year with the intention of introducing sustainable design approaches to the town and college community, has achieved an initial degree of success and outlined its goals for future action.
Senior Environmental Studies major Morgan Williams, one of three directors of ODI, said that the organization has been actively working this semester on several projects. The development of a smart-growth strategy for Oberlin has taken precedence. According to Williams, smart growth stems from the ongoing pro-growth/no-growth debate that rages throughout the United States as suburbia continues to push outward into rural areas.
“Communities around the country are implementing a series of policies and regulatory measures that create a third alternative to this debate,” he said.
An exodus from urban areas and a rapid growth of suburbs is a problem currently facing northeast Ohio. According to studies conducted by the Housing Policy Research Program at Cleveland State University, between 1980 and 1990, the city of Cleveland lost nine percent of its population, and projections for 1990-2010 show a population loss of 53 percent for the city. Meanwhile, these same studies show that eastern Lorain County will assume much of Cleveland’s loss, and the 1990-2010 figures project a 54 percent growth for the county.
The growth of Cleveland’s western suburbs comes at a critical time for Oberlin. In the past year, the city has lost its two main industries, Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Wolfe Envelopes, further damaging the Oberlin’s already weak tax base (no taxes are paid on college land).
To improve this situation, ODI plans to attract new industries to Oberlin, but industries that are environmentally friendly. Casey Pickett, OC ‘01 graduate and co-director of ODI, spoke of various aspects of this goal. One plan is to create by-product exchanges between industries.
“One industry is using the waste of another as its primary input.” Throughout the semester, ODI has worked with the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, and next semester both groups will coordinate a survey to find out what by-products county industries are producing. From there, experts will be brought in to analyze data results and set up by-product exchanges,” Pickett said. “We’re interested in creating incentives to get green businesses into the Oberlin community,” he added.
The issue of housing in Oberlin is also one of concern for ODI, particularly with the growth of the Oberlin Commons development on North Prospect Street. The development, conceived by Larry Funk of Oberlin Northshore Properties, was originally planned as a more ecologically friendly community, with narrower roads, no through streets, and plenty of common space.
While these features remain aspects of the community, Funk noted that other aspects of the plans had to be changed, particularly requirements that homes be constructed with all-natural materials, such as wood siding which were dropped.
“Those things, though nice, added significant cost to the structures,” he said. Funk also commented that he wants Oberlin Commons to be economically affordable, and stated that he expects the development to have a mix of residents consisting of college faculty, recent alumni/ae and people from Cleveland and surrounding suburbs who want to live in a small, college town.
ODI hopes that rather than encouraging the construct of sprawling, suburban developments, Oberlin will put an emphasis on downtown housing. Pickett noted that in addition to preventing a growth of Oberlin into the countryside, moving more people downtown would ease traffic congestion and help eliminate safety concerns. By making the center of town friendly to residents, “We would create more of an incentive to live downtown, rather than creating these subdivisions,” he said.
Williams said that the biggest success this semester has been getting the attention of students and community about the projects ODI is involved in. “There’s been a tremendous amount of interest and excitement in this work,” he said. Pickett hopes that the College administration will become equally enthusiastic about the work, and he noted that things that benefit the town also benefit the College and the students.